For this week’s AdMiration feature, we’re looking at K-pop in advertising. Brands from Oreo to Vaseline are making big bets on K-pop stars so we tested two ads that use the same KATSEYE* track in very different ways.
IHOP’s “Fancy a French Toast?” uses only the song as the soundtrack to a Marie Antoinette-style celebration of its returning Stuffed French Toast. Hershey’s goes all in and puts KATSEYE front and center in a full music video for its new Creme Bars.
Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.
*KATSEYE is officially a “global girl group.” They were formed by HYBE, the company behind BTS, and Geffen Records, and their members come from the US, South Korea, the Philippines and Switzerland. But they were trained in the K-pop system and are widely seen as part of the K-pop wave, which is why we’ve included them here.
The ad opens on the IHOP logo and the announcement of the return of its Stuffed French Toast. We then find ourselves in an IHOP where the breakfast crowd has gone full Versailles. Families and friends are dressed in Marie Antoinette-style gowns, frock coats and towering wigs while KATSEYE’s “Pinky Up” sets the tempo.
The camera moves in close on the star of the show. We see glazed strawberries and the moment the toast is cut open to reveal the cream inside. When an IHOP server checks in on the table, it’s pinkies up all round and the whole restaurant follows suit.
The ad closes on the new Stuffed French Toast and once again, the announcement that it’s now available at IHOP.
The ad opens by speeding through a subway tunnel before cutting inside a train carriage, where commuters are going about their everyday journey, barely noticing the KATSEYE members among them. Then one of the group pulls out a new Hershey’s Creme Bar and takes a bite and that’s when “Pinky Up” kicks in. She starts singing and dancing and the energy quickly spreads through the carriage. Commuters of every age drop their everyday composure and join in the choreography with their pinkies raised.
The ad then introduces the two new flavors, Salted Caramel and Affogato, with a bar held in each hand and pinkies up. It closes on KATSEYE alone in the carriage, performing their routine as “New Hershey’s Creme Bars” appears on screen.
The most effective ads have broad appeal and give a little extra to their target audience. In IHOP’s ad, the idea (“French toast, but fancy”) is the hero, and “Pinky Up” amplifies it rather than competing for the spotlight. So it doesn’t really matter whether viewers know or like KATSEYE. Half of the audience had never heard of the group and even among those who know them but aren’t fans, the ad still beats the norm on emotion (Overall Emotion: 63 vs. 57 norm). When we asked what people like, the food came first by a distance, followed by the costumes and the sense of fun. Those who did notice the song liked how well it fit: “Enjoyed the synergy between the imagery, the actors, and the song… The music really fit the theme.”
Where the ad goes the extra mile is with KATSEYE fans. IHOP is already well above average on emotion with the total audience (Overall Emotion: 65 vs. 57 norm), and fans take it even higher (84). That’s the sweet spot: broad appeal, with a bonus for the fans.
Make the product the hero. Both brands put the product at the heart of the ad but they bring it to life in very different ways. IHOP goes for the senses: Love spikes every time the camera gets up close to the French toast. As one viewer put it: "The French Toast looks Outstanding! Like one would see at a high end resort breakfast dining menu!"
Hershey’s, on the other hand, puts the bars in KATSEYE’s hands and its two biggest Love moments come when a KATSEYE member bites into the chocolate and on the final close-up of the bars: "The bright yellow outfit and subway setting felt fresh, and the K-pop star made the candy look fun and tasty."
Both brands also tie the product back to the same pinky-up promise of “a little luxury” and both land it: IHOP with everyone (Key Message Clarity: 4.4 vs. 4.2 norm), Hershey’s with KATSEYE fans (4.4). You can bring in music for the energy, but the product should always get the spotlight.
Who is your K-pop moment really for?
K-pop brand partnerships are stacking up fast, from Oreo x BTS to Jennie x Vaseline to KATSEYE’s own run with Gap, State Farm and now Hershey’s. The genre has gone mainstream, with 79% of US adults having some familiarity with it and just 8% saying a brand teaming up with a K-pop artist would make them feel more negative about it. The risk of backlash is low.
But the artists themselves are much less known than the genre. Half of US adults have never heard of KATSEYE, and only 37% say ads featuring K-pop artists feel relevant to people like them. That gap is where these two ads part ways. IHOP borrows the song’s energy and builds an idea anyone can enjoy. Hershey’s brings the girl group and makes something fans will love.
Neither approach is wrong, and each fits what the brand set out to do. IHOP wanted to bring back a fan-favorite dish and turn it into “an experience,” with the song adding a touch of youthful energy to a broad menu relaunch. Hershey’s wanted to connect with Gen Z in a way that felt “authentic and not cringy” so it built the whole ad around a group that young audiences love.
So it’s worth asking: are you choosing a K-pop partnership to reach the fandom, or to borrow some of its energy to amplify your ad?
Stuffed French Toast first landed on IHOP’s menu in 2003 and was retired in 2020. The brand says it’s the most-requested item on social media and it came back as a limited-time offer with more cream filling than before.
The 30-second spot was made with Deutsch and DeVries Global and runs across TV and IHOP’s social channels, supported by influencers and PR. The fans themselves came up with the idea, as Lenna Yamamichi, IHOP’s VP of Brand Creative, explained: “This whole campaign is centered around our fans, and the fans have positioned stuffed French toast as French toast, but fancy.” On the song choice, she added: “That’s a testament to the connection that we can have with the younger audiences, and that excitement that it brings.”
It fits a wider shift at IHOP. In 2025 the brand brought creative and social in-house under Yamamichi and moved to a social-first, trend-responsive approach aimed squarely at younger diners. It also taps into the Gen Z “little treat” trend: an affordable bit of indulgence that feels special.
Hershey’s got to “Pinky Up” first. Its Creme Bars campaign launched in September, with MARTIN* leading the creative. It’s a much bigger fan-first activation, running across TV, CTV, paid social and streaming audio, with murals in New York and LA, sampling pop-ups and an Uber partnership.
K-pop has gone mainstream in the US, with 79% of adults having at least some familiarity with it, rising to 90% of 18–45 year-olds.
But the artists themselves are less known (half of viewers have never heard of KATSEYE), and only 37% say ads featuring K-pop artists feel relevant to people like them.
The good news for brands is that there’s very little downside, with just 8% saying a brand teaming up with a K-pop artist makes them feel more negative about it.
Against that backdrop, IHOP has landed a spot in the top 15% of US ads for its potential to drive short-term sales and the top 20% for building brand equity over the longer term (Sales Impact: 87; Brand Impact: 84).
Hershey’s, with a music video designed to tap into Gen Z and K-pop fan culture, sits closer to the average US ad with the total audience (Sales Impact: 65; Brand Impact: 51), but it’s much more effective among KATSEYE fans (Sales Impact: 97; Brand Impact: 92).
IHOP beats the norm on every reach metric we measure. It’s more distinctive than the average US ad (Ad Distinctiveness: 4.1 vs. 3.7 norm), it grabs attention (Claimed Attention: 4.2 vs. 3.9 norm) and it makes IHOP itself feel different from other casual dining brands (Brand Distinctiveness: 4.0 vs. 3.7 norm).
Hershey’s ad also performs really well on that front with the total audience (Ad Distinctiveness: 4.2 vs. 3.7 norm; Claimed Attention: 4.0 vs. 3.9 norm; Brand Distinctiveness: 3.9 vs. 3.7 norm).
So whether you borrow the song only or bring the band on screen as well, K-pop makes an ad stand out!
People love both ads. Love is the dominant emotion throughout IHOP’s ad (Love: 40% vs. 27% norm), and Hershey’s isn’t far behind (Love: 34% vs. 27% norm).
This is where the two approaches split. IHOP resonates with everyone and hardly has any negative reactions (Dislike: 2% vs. 2% norm; Confusion: 1% vs. 2% norm).
Hershey’s is more polarizing with the total audience, drawing four times the norm for both Dislike (8% vs. 2% norm) and Confusion (8% vs. 2% norm).
The difference comes down to who knows the band. 52% of Hershey’s viewers aren’t familiar with KATSEYE and when we asked who appeared in the ad, only 9% could name them.
When an ad features a group half the audience doesn’t know, it risks losing some of them. Among KATSEYE fans, those negative reactions pretty much disappear (Dislike: <1%; Confusion: 2%), while Love jumps to 57%.
IHOP sidesteps that issue by using only the soundtrack, so even people who don’t recognize the song understand everything that happens in the ad.
In both ads, the product is the hero.
In IHOP’s spot, Love climbs as soon as viewers see the IHOP name and “Stuffed French Toast” on screen. From there, it spikes every time the camera gets up close to the food and we see the toppings and the moment the toast is cut open to reveal the cream inside. There’s one final spike towards the end when the Stuffed French Toast name appears on screen again.
There’s also a moment of Laughter as everyone in the restaurant lifts their pinky. As one viewer put it: “All these people dressed in French Renaissance clothing, holding pinkies up, and eating stuffed French toast. It's a pretty funny commercial.”
When we asked people what they like, the food came first (mentioned by around half of viewers), followed by the Marie Antoinette-style costumes and the sense of fun. Only a handful mentioned the song but they liked how well it fit (Musical Appeal: 4.0 vs. 3.8 norm). In IHOP’s ad, the song sets the mood rather than stealing the show:
In Hershey’s ad, Love and Like run side by side throughout, keeping viewers engaged. Importantly, both big Love spikes come from the product. The first arrives when the chocolate appears on screen and one of the KATSEYE members takes a bite. The biggest comes right at the end with the close-up of both bars with pinkies up.
KATSEYE brings the energy but the chocolate gets the biggest reaction. Those moments work whether or not you know who KATSEYE are. And when we asked viewers what they liked, the energy, the dancing and the everyday passengers joining in came up alongside the chocolate itself:
What strikes the biggest chord with fans is the music itself (Musical Appeal: 4.6 vs. 3.8 norm) and the group is a big part of what they enjoyed:
Both brands set out to land the idea that their product makes an everyday moment feel like “a little luxury.” But they get there in very different ways: IHOP builds the whole ad around the idea, while Hershey’s borrows it from KATSEYE’s star power.
IHOP’s lands clearly (Key Message Clarity: 4.4 vs. 4.2 norm; Believability: 4.3 vs. 4.1 norm) and it’s easy to see why: the luxury woven into every frame, from the diners are dressed like French royalty to the pinkies raised at every bite.
With the total audience, Hershey’s version is less clear-cut (Key Message Clarity: 4.0 vs. 4.2 norm; Believability: 4.0 vs. 4.1 norm). Among KATSEYE fans though it comes through just as well as IHOP’s does with everyone (Key Message Clarity: 4.4; Believability: 4.3). Here the luxury lives in the group's pinky-up attitude. Fans pick up on it instantly, but for viewers who don’t know KATSEYE, it’s easier to miss.
Pinkies up to both brands! IHOP shows how a trending song can amplify a great idea for everyone, while Hershey’s proves that bringing the band on screen delivers a real treat for the fans.
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